Somehow, I'm not getting my concept through.
DJ, FR already has "paid" members. Everyone who even ponies up $5 is a "paid" member. What I'm suggesting is that Jim keep the same business model (straight donations), but configure the site so that those members who donate do not see banner ads on the site.
This can be done. The Delphi Forum network has been doing it for years and years.
There may come a time when FR can't raise the needed money. It hasn't happened YET.
That's exactly the point of this thread. Freepathons are taking longer and longer. The site is running on band-aids and duct tape fixes. Either the members have to start donating more, or Jim needs to find another source of revenue to keep the site up.
And so what if those who are too poor to donate see a few banner ads? It won't appreciably detract from their overall experience at FR.
In the end, it's Jim's call, of course, but accepting paid advertising would create the kind of revenue stream that would ensure the health and well-being of the site.
And again ~ as a donating member, you would never personally be bothered by the sight of these ads anyway.
Jim’s 1030 explained why no ads. I didn’t know any of that.
“Somehow, I’m not getting my concept through.”
Your message got through but its not workable: there are inherent costs to going commercial as stated by JimR:
“Now we could go commercial. We could sell ads. We could sell subscriptions or memberships, We could sell t-shirts and hats. But the moment we do, we invite scrutiny and copyright lawsuits. Before going commercial we would have to scrub our archives of any possible copyright violations. And we’d have to tighten up our current operations to make sure no one posts anything that could get us into trouble with any publisher of stories, photos, images, etc. And with sharks like Righthaven swimming around, there will always be room for trouble. And going commercial still wouldn’t guarantee enough income to build and maintain a paid staff, bullet proof software, redundant systems, etc.”